Hardware
by swedemarkway
Summary: Some things never change, but some things have to. Rated M for possible future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Ed reached the door, his left fist mere inches from the wood when he stopped to look down at the destruction of his right arm. The metal was crumpled, wires shot out in disarray, and worst of all he had no control over the fingers which now twitched sporadically. He brought his hand away from the door and smothered his face with it, _Winry is going to kill me, _he thought while shaking his head.

_Well, she's going to see it sometime. _He took a deep breath and knocked cautiously on the door, and patiently waited for his blonde automail mechanic to answer the door wrench first.

"EDWARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BEAUTIFUL AUTOMAIL?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WORK I PUT INO THAT ARM?! DO YOU EVEN CARE THAT I WILL HAVE TO SLAVE AWAY FOR DAYS TO REPAIR THIS?! YOU'VE COMPLETELY STRIPPED THE HARDWARE!" Ed wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to that when stars were still bursting in front of his eyes from where Winry had cracked him on the skull.

"Ay, uh Winry, I'm really sorry. It was ju-just business, you know?" Ed rubbed the now egg sized lump on his head and looked at her apologetically hoping that would calm her down.

"Hmph," Winry crossed her arms, "I don't think I do Edward. Considering you never bother to call and only show up here when you've made a complete mess of yourself. What do they have you doing anyway?" Winry looked at him expectantly, her arms crossed and her hip shot out to one side.

"You know I can't tell you that Winry. I'm a dog of the military, and it's my burden to bear. Not yours," He had taken a step towards her.

Winry laughed, "Dog of the military? More like puppy," blood boiled under his skin at being demoted like that, but before he could respond she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hauled him into the house.

Winry sat him down at the table, poured some tea, and sat down across from him. For a long time they were quiet, Winry stared quietly into her tea while Ed watched her and felt guilty. _She worries about us so much. I should really make an effort to call more. _

"Winry, I-" He started but his eyes met hers and he saw that she was crying.

"Ed, I've been so worried. I keep waiting for the day when a military car drives up to deliver me condolences that one of you is dead," She reached forward and put her hand over his which immediately caused a blush to colour his face, "I can't just sit here waiting for that. You have to promise that, no matter what, you won't get yourself killed. I couldn't handle losing you too," She squeezed his hand and he hung his head.

"I promise we will be safe Winry," he murmured to the floor. She released his hand and he looked up, she was drying her eyes and smiling again. He liked it when she was happy and he hated that he was the main cause of her sadness lately.

"That's all I ask. Well, that and you call to make an appointment before you just show up here. Lucky for you though, I have all the parts I need and no more orders to fill today," they stood up and walked over to her mechanic station, "Alright, you sit right here and take your shirt off. I've got to go get a few things to fix this nightmare." Ed stripped his shirt off and lounged casually in the reclining chair, one hand behind his head, and thought about the dangerous things he had done that he couldn't bring to even think about around Winry. _It's hard to be careful, Win. But for you I'll try. _

"Now I'll have to detach the whole arm which means I'll have to reconnect the ner-" Winry had reentered the room and stopped mid speech to look at what she had thought was her trouble making childhood friend. It appeared that in his place was an incredibly toned, very grown up, handsomely brooding Edward Elric. Her eyes went wide, _when did that happen? _

A blush spread across her cheeks as she realized she had just been staring at him for an excessive amount of time, "Anyway, just don't be a big baby about it, okay?" She stammered, trying to collect herself.

Ed noticed. _Was she looking at me just now? _At the thought of it his face burned. Winry hadn't seen him in a while, maybe he had grown! He now looked to Winry, who had been so present in his life as a child, and how she now was less that little girl that used to beat him in races and more a beautiful young woman. Ed smiled to himself.

"Hey, what are you smiling about over there? You're still in trouble," Winry nagged from her work station, searching for tools.

"Nothing, are you going to take this thing off or what?" Ed asked.

Winry crossed the floor and sat down beside him holding his metal arm and carefully running her fingers up and down it, assessing it for damage. Ed watched her delicate fingers gently stroke his metallic limb and suddenly wished she cared that much about his human parts.

She released the arm from its port and spread it out on the floor beginning work immediately, screws and wires flying as her expert hands controlled tools at lightning speed. Ed watched her and found himself admiring the faces she made as she concentrated on her work. Her hair was falling across her face in a way that made his fingers ache to brush it behind her ear. He again found himself embarrassed by his own thoughts.

"It's not as bad as I thought it was," Winry snapped him back to reality with her self-satisfied declaration, "I'm just about done. I just have to reattach this to here and-there you go! Finished."

"Ah wow, really?! Winry you're amazing, you know that? I don't know what I'd do without you," Ed said excitedly. Their eyes met for a moment and before long they wore identical red faces and quickly looked away, "Uh, anyway how about reattaching it now?"

"Yeah, right." Winry said to Ed's mechanical arm, still trying not to look at him. _He said I was amazing._

Carefully, Winry gripped the top of Ed's shoulder with one hand and held his metal arm in the other. Ed braced himself, trying to focus on Winry's touch on his skin rather than the zinging pain he would feel as his nerve endings connected with the automail.

"On three, okay?" Winry said.

"Yeah, three sounds grea- OW! I THOUGHT YOU SAID ON THREE!" Winry had shoved the arm back into its port, reestablishing the nerves and nearly sending Ed through the roof.

"Sorry, but it's better if you're not expecting it," Winry said with a laugh. _Some things never change. _

Ed looked down and noticed that Winry's hand was still firmly clasped to his shoulder. He brought his left hand over and set it on top of hers, "Winry," Ed whispered, "I promise you I'll be more careful. I don't want to be the reason you're sad anymore," He met her eyes and flushed again, but continued to hold eye contact.

Winry's eyes widened, "Oh Ed," she said quietly and brought her free hand to touch his face, "You could never make me sad. No matter how badly you destroy my precious automail," They laughed but continued to look at each other, taking in the changes but also admiring the things that had stayed the same. She watched as his face slowly got closer to hers and she felt her breath catch in her throat and her eyes begin to close. _Some things have to change, _she thought as he softly pressed his mouth against hers.

In that moment years of tension, teasing, and sadness vanished from between them. Neither felt broken at that moment, like one had repaired the other as quickly as Winry repaired his automail. Edward pulled away first, brushing away the hair that he had been focused on earlier and smiled, "I'm such an idiot," he laughed.

Winry looked at him, "But why?" She inquired.

"We could have had that all along," He said quietly, "I'm sorry I didn't figure it out until now,"

"Are you apologizing for kissing me, Edward Elric?" Winry teased.

"What- no! I just, ugh, you know what I'm saying!"

"Shut up," Winry laughed and pulled him into her, kissing him again and feeling, for the first time in a while, that they were both safe.


	2. Chapter 2

Edward was careful, knowing that he could very easily hurt Winry with his metal limbs. He pulled her into his lap and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. It felt so strange to feel her on him this way, he kept thinking of how she would tackle him in tag when they were younger or now how she'd scold him for any number of things. This was a completely different side of her, one he couldn't believe he had missed.

Her soft skin pressed against his and her warm mouth trailed from his lips to his throat making him elicit a sound he hadn't known he could make. She giggled against his neck briefly but then made it back to his mouth, tracing his lower lip with the tip of her tongue and making his eyes flutter open in surprise. _Where'd she learn to do that?_

Winry was obviously much more experienced than Edward and that made him anxious, but also assured him that she would direct him. He trailed his metal fingers lightly along the exposed flesh from her hip to the bottom of her rib cage. He felt her shiver as she made a light cooing noise and he smiled against her mouth, knowing he had done something right.

Winry laced her hands in his long golden hair, carefully undoing the braid that he wore every day and letting it fall around his face. She pulled away slightly and he opened his eyes to meet hers. The deep gold eyes that she had often seen him roll with indifference now seemed soft and warm, telling her it was going to be okay. She smiled softly and put a hand lightly on his chest. He leaned back slowly until his head touched the floor, he closed his eyes again and let a slow breath out through his mouth.

Winry traced the contours of his muscles with her fingertips, just barely touching him. She saw his features twitch and brought her fingers to follow the planes of his face and then slowly brought her mouth down to his, kissing him lightly.

Edward's hands lingered on her waist, his thumbs rounding slow circles on her hips as she teased him with her soft kisses. _I've got to be patient. This means too much. _His mind agreed, but other parts of him were starting to become restless. Finally, Winry put some pressure behind her kiss, holding his face in her hands and allowing his tongue to sweep into her mouth. It was still gentle and slow, but it was perfect in his mind.

A thought occurred to him and he turned his head to the side, "Win," He breathed.

"What's wrong?" She sat up, confused at his sudden withdrawl.

"I just…are you sure?" He couldn't meet her eyes as red spread across his face.

"Oh, Edward," Winry giggled, "I've always been sure,"

This made Edward's breath catch and suddenly, he felt a burst of confidence in his chest, "Well in that case," He swept Winry up in his arms. She looked at him with surprise, but only for a moment before she began to kiss him while he carried her up the stairs and into her bedroom. He carefully lowered her onto the bed, trying not to break the kiss. The confidence that had brought him to this point was slowly fading as he realized he didn't have a goddamn clue what to do next. He hoped that his body wouldn't betray him and he wouldn't make too much of an ass of himself in front of Winry.

He slowly climbed on top of her, his hands on either side of her head. Her small delicate hands smoothed across his skin just as they had across his automail earlier, only this time she wasn't checking for flaws, but admiring the toned muscles that rippled under his fair skin. Her hands slowly drifted to the fastening of his trousers and she felt him freeze above her.

"Are you okay?" She whispered, her hands still lingering on the waist of his pants.

"Y-yeah. You just surprised me," Edward blushed bright red and Winry touched his face and gave a reassuring smile.

"We don't have to, you know," She told him.

"No! No, I want to. I just don't have too much…experience here. You caught me off guard, it won't happen again," Ed looked at her with determination and she giggled, "What's so funny?" he whined.

"Nothing," Winry said and kissed him again, undoing his belt and working on the button and zipper. He kissed her harder like he was trying to distract himself from what was happening below and she couldn't help but smile. Once she had undone his pants, she rolled on top of him so that she straddled his waist and slowly began to lift her black bandeau off over her head.

Ed's eyes got wide and the blush that seemed like it would never fade burned deeper as Winry took her top off. It didn't even feel like it was happening to him, the blood in his face coursed like he had just walked in on someone else's intimate moment. He took a deep breath and decided that since this was only the beginning, and she was being so open with him he would have to man up. His hand reached to her collar bone and he slowly pulled fingers down around the contours of her body, carefully circling around each breast and then back down towards her navel. Winry closed her eyes and arched her back slightly as the feeling of his light touches sent chills through her. His hands once again rested at her hips and she leaned in to kiss him again, more fervently than before. Her body seemed hyper aware and she longed to feel him touch her again. It wasn't long before most of their clothes lay strewn along the ground.

Each touch was gentle and loving. There was no rush or angst behind was happening, regardless of the years of built up tension. It felt natural, and Ed no longer worried that his body wouldn't know what to do or that he would make a fool of himself. Winry helped him along and he was a fast learner. They laughed and kissed and took each other in, admiring what had always been right in front of them. It was a welcome experience for both of them, but some things couldn't be ignored forever.

"I need you," He said quietly, the boyish blush still spread across his features, but not as deeply as before. He knew what he wanted and he was only a little embarrassed to admit it. _I guess that's progress, _Winry thought with a smile.

His metal thumb trailed from her soft lips, down her neck, and slowly in a straight line down the center of her torso. Winry let her head fall back as the feeling of metal against skin made her heart accelerate. She needed him too. Ed laid her down again and let his flesh hand wander.

He kissed around her neck and Winry found herself wanting to laugh that the boy who had been so oblivious for so long and who had just minutes before been caught off guard by the idea of taking his pants off in front of her, was now expertly making the room spin.

Edward was completely confident in what he was doing now, his mind had taken the side seat and his body was in complete control and it told him what he had to do next. He made a low hiss as he felt her around him. The warm tightness pulsed with her heartbeat and the thought of being that close to her could have made him cry, but he had better things to be doing than crying over having sex with Winry.

Winry let out a squeal, her legs automatically gripped around his waist and she brought her mouth to his for a deep kiss. He moved slowly, trying to garner control over himself and please her as much as she was pleasing him. She arched her back and pulled away from their kiss, her hands flung out to clutch the sheets.

"I need you," she whispered breathlessly. Her eyes were closed, she slowly shook her head from side to side, and she was breathing deeply. It appeared to him that she could have been having a bad dream. He slowed his pace and began to move more deliberately. A blush graced her cheeks and she closed her eyes tight.

She moved her hips slowly against his. Their sounds intermingled and the cool air blowing in from the open window and brushing against their exposed skin combined with the shock of cool metal ignited nerves and made everything more sensitive.

Finally, he felt her body contract around him as her mouth searched for his to pull him in as they were brought down together.

They laid together for a long time, her head on his chest and her hand in his. They didn't say anything, just held each other closely and enjoyed the feeling of that closeness. Finally it was Ed who spoke, looking down at Winry.

"Well I definitely won't be getting hurt now," he chuckled lightly as he pulled his fingers through her hair.

"At least now I know what it takes to get through your thick skull," Winry sighed, content in the moment.

"Hey, maybe my skull wouldn't be so thick if you weren't beating it with a wrench every time I saw you, eh?"

"Maybe if you didn't deserve a beating you wouldn't get one," She retorted, pushing herself up and looking into his eyes teasingly.

"Maybe you're right," he said smiling at her.

"I'm always right,"


End file.
